Members of the League of Social Democrats hold up a banner which reads "Without democracy, there can be no livelihood, "Put the people above the country, human rights above the regime, There can be no national security without democracy and human rights." outside the Central Government offices in Hong Kong on February 27, 2024.
(Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)
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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong activists on Tuesday staged a rare public protest against government plans for a new national security law, saying it lacked democratic oversight and human rights safeguards.
Public demonstrations have all but vanished in the Chinese finance hub since Beijing quelled huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and imposed a sweeping national security law.
Hong Kong officials now say a further homegrown security law is needed to plug “loopholes,” with justice chief Paul Lam earlier saying he heard no objections during a month of public consultations that ends Wednesday.
But activist Yu Wai-pan, from the League of Social Democrats, told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that “many Hongkongers are quite concerned.”
“I don’t understand why the secretary for justice said he heard no objection or worry,” Yu said.
The LSD is one of the last remaining opposition groups in Hong Kong and its members have faced multiple prosecutions for their shows of dissent.
Yu and two other activists were surrounded by press and more than a dozen police officers as they chanted slogans outside the Hong Kong government headquarters Tuesday.
“National security is important to the people, but it must be based on democracy, freedom and rule of law,” said activist Chan Po-ying.
The government referenced examples in the United States and Britain in defending the proposed legislation, but Chan said that comparison was misleading, as Hong Kong was not a democracy.
The month-long public consultation for the new security law, known as Basic Law Article 23, was largely limited to pro-Beijing voices, she added.
Xia Baolong, China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong, arrived in the former British colony last week in a tightly choreographed tour to meet with leaders in business and politics.
Xia discussed the security law proposal with two local lawyers’ groups in a closed-door meeting and engaged in “candid exchanges,” the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association earlier told reporters.
